


making monsters out of men

by GrimmKat



Series: #lovenotwar [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: :), Angst, Gen, M/M, Protective Steve, Superhusbands, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Unresolved Sexual Tension, by screaming, steve and tony work out their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 11:24:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7220404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimmKat/pseuds/GrimmKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He doesn't do this. He doesn't do feelings. He thinks it was better when he thought Steve was disappointed in him." Or, the one where Tony and Steve scream their feelings at each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	making monsters out of men

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [making monsters out of men (перевод)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8530735) by [sverhanutaya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sverhanutaya/pseuds/sverhanutaya)



They’ve had this fight so many times that, by now, Tony feels like he’s just reading off a script. And it’s not even a good script. Most of the time it’s just pointless, bitter insults traded back and forth, along with shaking fists and scathing glares. And, somehow, it’s always, always, always Tony’s fault. 

Steve’s arms are crossed over his star-spangled chest, mouth set into a pursed, hard line. Tony’s purposefully avoiding his gaze, busying himself with checking out his armor. It’s completely ruined, he notes with a frown, crushed as easily as an aluminum can. He’s just lucky that he wasn’t crushed with it. He grabs the helmet and attempts to fit it over his head, but the opening- squashed like the rest to the suit- is too small. He’ll have to pull up the HUD specs another way. 

He can hear Steve’s breathing deepen, can feel Steve’s piercing stare and he pushes down a clump of annoyance. The last thing he wants to hear right now is how badly he screwed up. Because he knows, okay. He knows. 

“Tony,” Steve starts and Tony whips around, eyes fluttering shut as he’s all of a sudden hit with a bout of dizziness. He quickly adds concussion to his mental list of current injuries. 

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Tony, I told you-”

“Lay off, old man.” Growls Tony, too dizzy and too tired to come up with a better insult. Steve simmers and manages to hold his tongue for exactly two minutes and forty seven seconds. It’s a new record. 

“You could have been killed, shellhead! I told you stay put, I told you it was dangerous. What’s the point of me leading this team if my team members don’t listen to me?” 

Tony bites down hard on his lip to keep from exploding. Really. He think he might blow up if he hears one more snarky, condescending comment. Whoever dubbed Captain America as good and righteous was out of their goddamned mind. 

“For a genius, Tony, you sure are stupid sometimes.”

Well. Two can play at that game. 

“You know what, Rogers? Sometimes I wish they never dragged you outta that ocean. Cold cleary suits you.” And yeah, that shuts the man up. Steve stumbles back like he’s been shot, mouth gaping open. 

“I- I suppose you’re entitled to your opinion.” He states, shoulders drooping. “I’ll leave you alone.” Tony stares at Steve’s retreating figure and tries not to feel too guilty. 

Once he’s gone, Tony allows himself to breath, attempting to slow the frantic beating of his heart. He fucked up again. He always does. Steve riles him up and Tony makes like a volcano- spewing hate and violent remarks. They’ve done this a million times but Tony’s never gone this far. Steve’s never deflated like this before. Tony’s used to making Steve angry. He’s not used to making him sad. 

He looks down at the crumpled helmet, focusing on his reflection in the metal. It’s ugly, he realizes. All warped and bumpy, mouth twisted, eyes disjointed and dark. He looks like a monster. “I’m sorry.” He whispers to the image. “I didn’t mean it.” But there’s no one around to hear. 

Thirty minutes later Tony hears the popping of the landing gear, signaling the quinjet’s descent. Good thing too because he’s finding it almost impossible to keep his eyes open any longer. He needs to crawl into bed and sleep for a week.

Once they’ve settled, he stalks past Steve and Natasha who are in the Pilot’s seats, trying not to respond to the way Natasha’s staring at him. Steve probably told her what he’d said. Great, now they’ll both hate him. Whatever. He’ll deal. 

Tony starts to make his way up to his floor- helmet tucked protectively under his arm- when he decides that’s not where he wants to go after all. He’s aching for a chance to fix his mistakes. But facing Steve right now is not an option, so he goes to plan B. He goes to something he knows he can fix. 

He works on the helmet until his reflection is just as smooth and shiny as it should be. 

 

Jarvis’ melodic voice tugs him out of a listless sleep. Tony groans, unsticking his face from his keyboard. “Whaddya want, J?” He mumbles, taking a second to rub the crap out of his eyes. He’s not all that surprised to learn he passed out in the workshop. 

“Sorry to bother you sir, but I’m afraid Captain Roger’s is requesting entrance to the workshop.” 

“What?” Goes Tony, twisting his head around to see Steve’s silhouette hidden behind the opaque glass walls. “Shit. Tell him I’m busy or something.” 

“He wishes to inform you that he’s ‘not leaving until you open the damn door, Stark’.” 

“Tell him I’m not here.”

“He says he can see you, sir.”

“Tell him I don’t want to talk.”

“He says he doesn’t care.”

“Fuck. Me.” Mutters Tony. Why the hell would Steve want to talk to him? Tony basically just told the man that he wished he didn’t exist. He’d been counting on avoiding Steve for the rest of the month, not willingly engaging in conversation hours after the fact. He doesn't want to see Steve's devastated eyes again. But for all of Tony’s faults, the last thing he is is a coward. “Let him in, J.” 

Tony keeps his eyes on his laptop as Steve makes his way through the workshop. The man doesn't start talking right away- he gives Tony the time he needs to get used to his presence. “What do you want, Steve?”

“I want you to listen to me without interrupting.” 

“Fuck you, Steve, I'm not a little kid.”

“You're interrupting again. I can't tell you what I need to say if you keep interrupting me. Just listen. Please.” 

And it's the ‘please’ that shuts Tony up, because Captain America doesn't beg. 

“Fine.” He says, but only in his head. Steve takes the silence as encouragement and starts:

“Tony, I’m sorry.”

And yeah, wow, an apology is not what he was expecting out of Steve.

“I shouldn't have yelled at you on the plane. That was wrong. I call myself a leader and such I need to hold myself to a higher standard. You were hurt- are hurt- probably concussed, and I was yelling at you like you would understand.”

“I know this is an apology but I'm feeling a bit insulted. This is the second time you called me stupid.” 

“That's not-” Steve wrinkles his nose. “That's not what I meant, stop interrupting.” He gives a little huff and continues. “After you… After we argued, I talked to Natasha.”

“Yeah, she probably hates me now, right?”

“Tony, I swear. Are you incapable of being quiet for five seconds?” Steve snarls. “I am trying to be nice, but you’re making this incredibly difficult. You said you weren’t a child but you definitely have the attention span of one.” 

“Oh, go fuck yourself Steve.” And yep, that settled it. They were unable to converse like respectable adults. Steve pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath. 

“No, I need to finish this.”

“Well I don’t want to hear it.” Tony mutters. Deciding that he’s done listening to Steve, he turns back to his work. He’d fallen asleep in the middle of repairing the magnetic stabilizer in the faceplate and it wasn’t attaching correctly to the rest of the helmet. He fiddles with it for a few moments, pointedly ignoring Steve’s obnoxious hovering. 

“I’m not leaving until I finish.”

“Then I’ll leave.” Tony says, dryly. He stands up and immediately regrets his decision when his vision goes a bit blurry. Fucking concussion. He sits back down.

“I thought you were leaving.” Steve says.

“I’ve changed my mind.” Tony snarks. 

“So you’ll listen?” And the way he says it is just so goddamned hopeful. Tony would feel like he’s snatching candy from a baby if he says anything but yes. So,

“Fine.” 

“Good.”

“Fantastic.” 

“As I was saying,” Steve frowns, tapping a finger on the edge of Tony’s desk. “Actually, I forgot what I was saying. This is why I didn’t want you talking over me.” 

“That and it would start another argument?” Tony goes with a smirk. 

“Yeah.” Says Steve. “We do tend to turn every conversation into an argument. I want to know why.”

“You were talking about how much Natasha hates me right now.” Tony supplies, helpfully.

“That’s not what I was going to say, Tony.” Steve shakes his head. “It’s because we keep assuming we know what the other person is going to say, isn’t it? That’s why we argue so much. You think you know what I’m going to say. But you’re wrong. You have no idea.”

“That’s not why we argue.” Tony argues. “We argue because you’re infuriating and obstinate.”

“Well I could say the same for you.” Steve huffs. “Anyway, Natasha. I was talking to Natasha about...things. And I realized, what happened on that mission wasn’t really your fault. It was mine.”

“Um.” Goes Tony. “Not trying to start another disagreement, but I’m pretty sure it was my fault.”

“It wasn’t.” Says Steve, ever sure in his resolve. “I was the one who only brought half the team into a dangerous situation. I should have been more cautious, should have realized that even though it was a simple grab-and-go, things can get bad at any moment. The minute Hydra showed up, we should have been out of there. That’s on me.”

“But I’m the one who initiated contact!” Tony bites. “I’m the one who accidently blew up the evidence we were supposed to collect. The fact that we failed the mission was my fault. The fact that I almost got crushed was my fault.” He realizes that his hands are shaking and he clasps them together, tucking them in his lap. That little brush with death must have affected him more than he thought. “You were right to yell at me. I fucked up. And then I fucked up again. You know I don’t mean what I said, right? I-I’m glad you’re here.”

Steve looks a little taken aback by Tony’s outburst. His face softens and he grabs a chair, pulling up next to him. “I know, shellhead. I only yelled at you because I was scared. When I saw that beam fall, saw the armor crumple like that, I was absolutely terrified. I thought you were dead. I don’t give a shit about the mission. In my eyes, you died. You’re way more important to me then some old data.”

And Tony can’t say anything in reply cause there’s a lump the size of China in his throat. He’s feeling dizzy again and blames it on the concussion. He doesn’t do this. He doesn’t do feelings. He thinks it was better when he thought Steve was disappointed in him. 

“To be honest,” Goes Steve, hesitantly, “Natasha was the one who made me talk to you. She said we need to work out our problems. That’s why I’m here. What you said really hurt me, Tony, but I think I understand now. You thought I was berating you from a place of malice, but I just can’t lose anyone else. You get that right? I was trying to stop you from putting yourself into future danger.”

“Okay.” Whispers Tony, internally struggling with the fact that Steve actually cares for him. Instead of, you know, hating him or something. Which is, um, a bit of an interesting development. But it is Steve, and Steve doesn’t lie. “Okay, I’m sorry.” 

Steve gives him a soft, genuine smile. “Friends then?”

“Friends.” Mutters Tony and lets out a little ‘oomph’ when Steve pulls him into a tight hug. 

“Good.”

“Fantastic.” 

Steve just laughs.

**Author's Note:**

> My first Avenger's story! I hoped you enjoyed these dorks as much as I do :)


End file.
